Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the field of multimedia objects and human interactive proof (HIP) technology. More specifically, techniques are provided that involve interacting with a multimedia object to provide a more natural user interaction and ease of use while maintaining security.
Description of the Related Art
The growth of Internet usage across different interfaces and devices has led to widespread adoption across all demographics. The number of websites is ever increasing and more financial transactions happen on the internet. Websites are widely used to provide users with a convenient means to order products such as tickets, to access personal account information, to open new email accounts, to add content to existing content like comments on blogs, uploading multi-media content on websites or to access other services. These systems are not only convenient to website owners as well as to their users, but they also reduce overall costs.
Unfortunately such systems can also provide a loophole, through which hackers can obtain access to personal or other restricted data, disrupt services, poison existing content with irrelevant information declining the value of existing content, consume all the resources of the website for malicious activities and distribute worms or spam. This is done commonly through the use of automated bots, scripts, and other malicious computer programs.
This has led to the development of Human Interactive Proof (HIP) technology. HIPs are challenges designed to be solved by humans, so that they aren't discouraged from using a service. At the same time the HIP must be difficult enough to make the cost of developing or processing a malicious bot, script to break it, uneconomical and challenging. One form of such HIP which is widely used is CAPTCHAs (“Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”, also referred to herein as “captcha” or “captchas,” i.e. not in full caps). Captcha technology is a challenge-response system as an attempt to ensure the response is from a human and this helps to isolate the human traffic from the malicious bot, script traffic. Captchas are fast becoming pervasive across the internet as sites move towards collaborative user-generated content making the need for distinguishing genuine users from bots and scripts, and maintaining user privacy more critical. However, captchas may not be very user friendly and occupy precious real estate without providing any monetization.
Online advertising has emerged as an important element of any advertising campaign. However, the effectiveness of the existing ad formats such as online banner ads is far from optimal. Several banner ads on a webpage crave for attention and has led to a phenomenon called banner blindness. Banner blindness is a phenomenon in web usability where visitors or a website ignore banner-like information. And web usability tests are regularly proving that knowingly or unknowingly the users are ignoring banner ads or images which appear in banner form.